Hilary's Desk

Last week I was walking down the road, and gasped as I saw a mannikin dress which was high fashion when I was 14.  I still have a sepia-shaded photo of me in it.  The only thing that's changed is the fabric.  Not that the human body changes it's design, other than self-adjusted additions or removals. I thought, "How true, old becomes new."  The very next day I...

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Several times, I’ve been asked to explain my silence, and why I have not written about Andrew Wakefield in the past. My concerns started in 1981, and go much deeper and relate to much more fundamental issues than “that” paper. It’s up to Andrew Wakefield to clear his own name. It’s up to Deer to prove he’s right. There are far more serious, fundamental i...

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That about sums up the last week really. Meanwhile, Brian Deer shafts the parents in the 1998 Lancet study calling them worse words than being “nuts”; Dr Paul Offit calls Wakefield a fanatic; vaccine defending bloggers infer that Jenny McArthy is a slut, and the sun shines out of Dr Offit’s little pet Amanda Peet’s long legs... and Gregory Poland considers anyone wh...

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Yesterday, in discussing the cozy relationship of the medical profession with big pharma while paying lip service to nutrition, I remembered an old book I have on this topic.  It's quaint title is, "Intestinal Gardening for the Prolongation of Youth". It was written by Dr James Empringham, and published in 1926.  It's fascinating; makes me chuckle, and roll my eyes at the same ti...

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Open Letter to the Hon Minister of Health, Tony Ryall,  Dear Mr Ryall,  We realise that health policy is determined by your advisors, but we believe that it's time for you to independently do some research on Pubmed, Google Scholar and apply some commonsense to the escalating industry entrenchment around the expensive testing for and treatment of rheumatic fever.  What most conce...

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